Key events
28 min Both sets of players had a go at the referee after that decision. Syria wanted O’Neill to be sent off; Australia complained that Al Aswad should have been booked for a few minutes ago.
27 min O’Neill is booked for waving his arm in the face of Sabbag, whose nose is bleeding. It looked more of a handoff than a deliberate elbow, though it’s hard to be sure these days.
The free-kick was given to Australia because Sabbag had pulled O’Neill back, but then O’Neill caught him in the face.
25 min Al Aswad stands on Souttar’s foot, a late challenge that merits a yellow card. The referee settles for a warning. Souttar politely tells Al Aswad where to insert his apology.
22 min That Sabbag chance aside, this has been like a training session: attack and defence, invasion and repulsion. So far Syria are winning, in that they’re drawing.
19 min Metcalfe’s inswinging corner from the right is headed up in the air by Irvine and claimed comfortably by Madania. Australia have had a few set-pieces, but so far Metcalfe hasn’t been able to locate Souttar’s abundant noggin.
17 min Metcalfe’s free-kick from the left is headed over by Irvine beyond the far post. It was a tough chance because he was diving forward and had to divert the ball back towards goal.
16 min Most of Australia’s threat so far has been down the left, through Behich and especially Bos.
13 min Behich, Irvine and Bos combine nicely on the left before Bos’s cross is cleared a little unconvincingly. Australia are well on top, though Syria came closest to to scoring when Sabbag almost stuck one on in the onio- no, I can’t hit the post.
11 min Bos drags a shot well wide from 20 yards. Told you he was really good.
11 min “Hi Rob,” says Patrick O’Brien, “Jordy Bos sounds like a short lived YouTube sensation.”
Or chief hunk in an New Kids on the Block reboot. He’s a really good footballer though.
9 min Free-kick to Australia on the left wing. Metcalfe’s cross leads to an almighty scramble that includes at least two blocksed shots. There’s a VAR check for handball, but it’s quickly cleared.
8 min “After our sleepwalk against India I am expecting much better (at least some sort of football aimed around passing and shooting),” says James Paraskevas. “Fornaroli will come and on and win a penalty off a dive in the last minute. Socceroos 1-0 at the death. Cheers and beers for all once again.”
Win or lose…
5 min: Sabbag hits the post! Syria almost took the lead with their first attack. A ball into the area from the right was controlled near the byline by Al Aswad, who laid it back to Sabbag. He moved the ball onto his left football and cracked a low shot that took Ryan by surprise. It beat his dive and thumped off the near post.
4 min Australia appeal for a penalty when Bos’s cross hits the arm of Ousou. It was tight to his body, though, and he was trying to pull it behind his back. Not even the sickest VAR deviant would give that.
1 min Peep peep! The Socceroos kick off from left to right as we watch.
The two teams line up for the anthems. The Socceroos are wearing their obsidsian and green glow (sic) away strip. The colours are great; not sure about that pattern below the neck though.
Syria are managed by Hector Cuper, the Argentinian who disappeared off the face of European football after taking Valencia to back-to-back Champions League finals in 2000 and 2001. I bet he wishes he had Kily Gonzalez’s left foot tonight.
A reminder of the teams
“G’day Rob,” writes Chris Paraskevas. “My Thursday night began with that most quintessentially Australian suburban pastime: a full-blown argument with my neighbour over the (literal) garden fence. I went full Graham Arnold GIF mode. Even the neighbours down the road got involved…
“I don’t think they truly appreciate the particulars of my permanently sleep-deprived, anti-Circadian state, or the effect football results can have on my mood.
“Anyway, it feels as though the Socceroos have always struggled against West Asian sides: our supposed physical / height advantage isn’t as pronounced, and over the years they have become increasingly organised at youth and senior levels.
“Whatever the reason, teams like Syria will always raise their game against us and their previous performance in this tournament – like Australia’s against India – might be a red herring…”
I think Australia will win comfortably, but I’m not going to argue with you in such an anti-Circadian state. I don’t even know whether anti-Circadian is a word but, well, see above. You’re right, Chris!
How did we survive without things like emojis and internets?
Team news: Socceroos make three changes
Syria are unchanged, Australia are changed. Jordy Bos, who came off the bench to score the second goal, Cameron Burgess and Aiden O’Neill replace Craig Goodwin, Kye Rowles and Keanu Baccus. I’d imagine Baccus is being rested as he was superb against India.
Syria (4-4-2) Madanieh; Weiss, Ousou, Krouma, Al Ajaan; Al Aswad, Elias, Ham, Ramadan; Sabbag, Hesar.
Substitutes: Alma, Al Midani, Jenyat, Khrbin, Al Marmour, Anez, Kourdoghli, Abraham, Youssef, Al Khouli, Yakoub, Mousa.
Australia (4-1-2-3) Ryan; Jones, Souttar, Burgess, Behich; O’Neill; Metcalfe, Irvine; Boyle, Duke, Bos.
Substitutes: Deng, Rowles, Silvera, Fornaroli, Yengi, Tilio, McGree, Baccus, Gauci, Miller, Goodwin, Yazbek.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live, minute-by-minute coverage of Syria v Australia in the Asia Cup. The Fifa rankings (91st v 25th) say this is a banker – but the memory banks of Socceroos fans say otherwise. In the three meetings between the sides, Syria have been buttock-clenchingly tough opposition.
In 2017, Australia needed an extra-time goal from Tim Cahill in Sydney to win a ding-dong World Cup qualification playoff. There was no extra-time in the group stage of the 2019 Asian Cup – but there was injury time, during which Tom Rogic gave Australia a tense 3-2 victory.
That said, Syria’s performance in their opening game of the Asian Cup – a 0-0 draw against Uzbekistan in which they had no shots on target – reinforced the case for a comfortable Socceroos victory tonight. Syria’s recent form is poor, and their last victory of note was probably against Tunisia in 2021.
Australia didn’t exactly send a chill through the competition in their opening game, though their 2-0 victory over India was ultimately very comfortable. Another victory today would put them through to the last 16 with a game to spare. You don’t need Vanilla Ice to tell you that anything less would be a misdemeanour.
Kick off 2.30pm local / 10.30pm AEDT / 11.30am GMT.